Heaters...

[freshwatergal]

What is the best kind to have?

Edit: I have the ones you can get at Wal-Mart. I thought I had saw on here that someone had one where it actually had the temp setting on it. That would be great to have...

 

[Madame_X]

I have VisiTherm heaters in all of my tanks. They are very easy to set and so far have worked well. However, since I live in Arizona mine really get very little use so someone in a colder climate could probably give you a better opinion of reliability.

 

[Todd2]

Alot of people suggest Ebo Jagers or Visi-therms, both are submersible and reliable.

 

[loganj]

Pro Heat is top of the line IMO. I'm switching to these as I need them on all my tanks. Check the sponsor forum for a good deal. VisiTherms are also good heaters. You can't really trust the temp scale on any of the heaters though. I've found they are ususally off by a couple of degrees at least.

 

[SicklySweet]

I like VisiTherms and Tronic's, but from what I hear Ebo-Jagers are well received.

 

[tkos]

The more you pay for a heater the better it is pretty much. Those WalMart ones (I have one right now) will get the job done but require you to be more vigilant. If you can afford it any of the top of the ine fully submergable heaters will be a great choice. Regardless make sure to always have a thermometer as any heater could be the bad one of the batch.

 

[dralarms]

The ones at wal mart are marineland and completely submerisable. It's the same brand that my lfs sells.

 

[tkos]

The ones I bought at WalMart are not fully submersable. They probably sell more than one brand and it can also depend ont he store you go to.

 

[dralarms]

I think they just started carrying the marineland brand

 

[freshwatergal]

That's the kind of heater I have on my 46 gal. and it's alright. I guess the more expensive it is, doesn't neccessarily mean it's better. Thanks for the opinions though.

 

[ferret]

I have a wide variety of heaters. I've got at least one 'Topfin' heater from Petsmart. I've got several Pro Aquatic heaters. I've got several smaller Marineland "Neptune" heaters (Which I never found any internet information on), and I've got several that I don't know the brand name for right off. They come in yellow packages and are at most lfs though.

I've never had an issue with ANY of them. All my tanks stay around 80, sometimes 82 as my apartment stays somewhat warm. I've never seen any of the heaters on unless the temperature had actually started to hit 79.

 

[captainGregor]

In my experience Ebo-Jager serve very well. I have NEVER seen the temp of my water move from 77 degrees. Never (unless it is hotter in the room). My 250 watt is great although not completely submersible, but it is of no inconvenience.

 

[tkos]

Good point about the fact that most heaters don't come on very often. Water retains its heat quite well and the only time I notice my heaters is when I do a water change. Of course my tanks saty in the lower 70'sF due to choice of fish. But even my platy tank stay around 79F or so and its heater is never on. I guess you buy whatever makes you feel the most comfortable. If money isn't thta much of an issue an expensive heater might make one rest a little easier. But as with all manufactured things there is always a dud out there just waiting to be purchased.

 

[ferret]

My heaters aren't really to keep the temperature 'up', so much as to avoid sudden drops. I've had times where my A/C was acting up and due to the air temp in the apartment, the tanks got upwards to 85 on their own, so the heaters are almost moot for me. But whenever there's a random cold night I'm glad for them